Perfect Balance
by Lou Storgaard
Summary: - Sequel to Frozen moments - Months after the incident at the precinct, Mac & Stella struggle to get their everyday life back to normal when new changes threaten to rattle the fragile balance between policework and family-life.


_Written as a slightly late birthday present for Lily Moonlight. (also the sequel to 'Frozen Moments')_

Mac had been working in his office at home when Julie had come to talk to him. She was worried about not being able to properly defend herself. It was an issue they had talked about often since Julie had been the center of a hostage situation at the precinct. Even though it had been over 3 months since it happened, everything wouldn't quite go back to normal. Julie spent most nights sleeping between her parents to fight off the nightmares that were still bothering her. It would be a lie if Mac said he wasn't also still plagued by nightmares in which he would lose his daughter or his wife. Most nights, however, the nightmares were easily fought off by the realization that his family was sleeping safely right next to him.

That evening Julie had come to him, hoping he would teach her to shoot, but he wasn't about to let his child near a gun, even though he had made sure she knew where to find it, if someone should ever invade their home. Instead, after some discussion, they had agreed that he could teach her how to aim with her toy dart gun.

He had arranged some of Julie's stuffed toys on a shelf to use for targets, but Julie found that hitting them was more difficult than she had at first expected.

"You'll want to aim slightly higher than where you intend to hit." Mac said, putting his hands over his daughters' on the gun, to adjust her aim. "Wit ha real gun, you would have to make room for kickback." he told her, before firing a foam dart at the unicorn toy at the far right of the shelf.

Julie laughed when the dart simply bounced off the toy and landed on the floor, instead of pushing the toy down like Mac had intended.

A couple of knocks on the door made the pair turn their attention to Stella, who had just arrived home.

"Hi mom." Julie said, before grabbing another dart to fire again, paying no attention to her mother, who motioned for Mac to come with her. They made their way to the kitchen without talking, but Mac could easily tell that something wasn't quite right.

"How was your day?" he asked, hoping to ease some of the tension, but Stella didn't bite.

"Tiring." She said, shoving a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you teaching her to shoot?"

the tone in which she spoke took Mac by surprise and for a second he felt he'd caught a glimpse of what it must be like to sit across from her in an interrogation room.

"With a toy gun." He pointed out, trying to lighten the mood. "We were shooting at stuffed toys."

"You were teaching her about kickback!" she turned away from him and started unpacking her grocery bags while he tried to think of an answer, but only a few items had made it onto the counter when she turned back to face him.

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" She asked, keeping her voice down, so Julie wouldn't hear."She's just a child Mac, not a cop."

"Stella what's going on?" Mac asked, the conversation had him thoroughly confused.

"Nothing." She said. "I just think teaching our daughter to shoot is an overreaction."

"Then what do you call this?" he asked. "We were shooting foam darts at stuffed toys!" he knew he had been a bit harsh the moment the words had left his mouth, but when Stella looked at him, looking on the verge of tears, confused no longer began to cover how he felt.

"I'm sorry," She said, turning her back on him. "I.. Uh, could you do that for me?" She asked, motioning toward the grocery bags still on the counter before she disappeared into their bedroom, leaving Mac to put the groceries away while trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

Julie came out of her room a short while later to help Mac cook dinner, but by the time the table was set and the food ready, Stella still hadn't come out. Not wanting her to miss dinner, Mac decided to go check on her, only to find her asleep on their bed.

"Stella?" he asked, knocking on the door frame until she seemed to wake. "Dinner is ready."

"Thank you," She said, stretching her back before looking at him. "I'll be out in a few." She said, but as Mac turned to leave she changed her mind.

"I'm sorry about earlier," She said as she sat up. "there's something... can we talk?"

Suddenly worried, Mac made his way further into the room but neither of them got a chance to say anything as Julie called from the kitchen.

Over dinner, Stella's mood seemed to improve and the worry seemed to lessen its grasp on Mac, even though he was still anxious to find out what she needed to talk to him about.

They didn't get a chance to be alone until later that evening when Mac made his way back into the living room after making sure Julie got to sleep.

Stella was lying on the couch, resting after what appeared to have been a tough day at work. Lately work had seemed more hard on her than usual and Mac worried that she might have been under too much stress, even though she usually wouldn't hear anything of it.

Without talking, Mac sat down on the edge of the couch, resting his hand on his wife's leg, his thumb moving in lazy circles on her thigh.

"Are the cramps back?" He asked. She had been struggling with stomach cramps and dizziness for the past while, both of them blaming the stress of having to deal with the aftermath of the hostage-situation.

"Maybe now would be a good time for a vacation." Mac said. "Being this stressed isn't good for any of us."

"Mac I'm not sure it's stress." She said, pushing herself upright. "I've been noticing some things lately and I think I might be pregnant."

Mac just sat there for a while, not sure what to say and even less sure why Stella made it sound like their lives were ending, but after a few seconds he managed to find words.

"But that's good news, right?" he asked, hoping to see his wife crack one of her signature smiles, but she didn't. Instead she only seemed more worried.

"I don't know Mac," She said, avoiding his look. "with my age, there are so many things that could go wrong. And we're not exactly good at balancing the line between being parents and being cops as it is."

Suddenly understanding that her worry wasn't for them, but for Julie and the baby they might or might not be expecting, Mac took Stella's hand, waiting her for to meet his gaze.

"We'll work it out." He said, knowing it would take a lot more than that to convince her.

"I think, maybe it's time for me to put down the badge," She said. "with our savings and your salary, we could make it. We'd have to cut down some luxuries, but we'd be fine."

"You know you have my support whatever you decide," Mac said, "but there are less drastic options. We could easily cut down your hours, or mine. Or give you less field work if it's the risks you're worried about. But first things first; have you done a test?"

"Not yet," she said. "I bought it a week ago, but I haven't dared."

"Well, I for one would like to know if I will be passing out cigars any time in the near future." Mac said, finally succeeding in getting a small chuckle from Stella, and as she went to do the test, Mac found himself hoping it would turn out to be positive.

Losing his patience after a few minutes, he went to wait by the bathroom door, until Stella finally came out, holding the test in her hands.

Mac held his breath, not quite able to decipher the feeling of fear and excitement that grew in his gut as Stella opened her mouth to speak.

"It's positive." She said, finally smiling as Mac dared take a breath of air.

"Positive." He repeated as he drew her into his arms, not able to fully understand what had just happened, but knowing they'd work everything out once the news had settled.

"Guess we're having another baby." Stella said. Mac chuckled, not sure which of the many emotions to hold on to as he stood in the hall, holding his pregnant wife. Neither of them aware that their daughter was standing on the other side of the door, both hands clamped over her mouth to avoid crying out over the news of her future baby brother or sister.


End file.
